Gear chamfering hob



May 20, 1952 REMlCH 2,597,129

GEAR CHAMFERING HOB Filed April 17, 1947 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 IN VD] TOR. Norman C Rem/ch BY pea/mp.

AT TDRNE Y6 y 20, 1952 N. c. REMICH 2,597,129

GEAR CHAMFERING HOB Filed April 17, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR A I /Vorman C. Rem/ch 601, 4 35-; My! 1 4/ ATTORNEYS 7% Patented May 20, 1952 GEAR CHAMFERING HOB Norman C. Bemich, Rockford, IIL, assignor to Barber-Colman .C'omnany, Rockford) 111., a corporation of Illinois Application April .1 1, 1947,.Scria1'No. 741,989

2 Claim 1 The present invention. relates to, improvements in gear chamfering hobs.

A general object of the invention is to provide a chamfering hob which has a smooth andcontinuous cutting action, and in which the cutting load is uniformly distributed over a considerably larger number; of teeth than in prior hobs of the same type, thereby prolonging the hob life and improving the surface finish on the work...

Another object is to provide a gear chamfering hob having plural rows of teeth for chamfering a corresponding number of gear teeth during each hob revolution, with the hob teeth so. formed and arranged that the cutting action is not inter rupted, but progresses uniformly, with a full convolution of cutting increments throughout each revolution, thereby preventing chatter and vibration.

A further object is. to provide a hob .ofthe foregoing character which, after the initial. infeed to depth, is capable of completely chamfering'all of the gear teeth inone revolutionof the gear.

Other. objects and advantages. will become apparent as the description proceeds.-

In the accompanying drawings..

Figure -1 is a view, partially in front elevation, and partially in axial section along the line el -.4 of Fig. 2, of a chamferinghob embodying. the features of the present; invention.

Fig. 2 is a right end View of; thehob.v

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan development of the periphery of the hob. I r

Fig. 4 is a schematic plan View showing the hob and a gear in cutting relation.

Fig. 5 is a view of the hoband. gear of .-Fi g. 4 taken in a direction axiallyof the. gear,

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of zthehob. and gear of Fig. 4 taken toward one sideedge of the gear.

Fig. 7 is a perspective-view ofan upper.frag ment of a chamfered gear.

Figs. 8 to 11 are fragmentary perspective-views taken in a direction normalv to the-face of. the

emerging hob tooth, and illustrating progressive steps, in thecham-fering of the .gearteeth.

Referring more particularly to the: d-rawings,v the hob, identified generally at: 15,..and constitut ing the exemplary embodimento-fthe presentjn,

vention, is adapted for the-cham-fering of the .ends of the teeth of various types otgears. 'Iihe. hob

is commonly used and especially adapted-.101- chamfering external ring -gears t6 with-pcriph erally spaced teeth H- hav-ing; a: circular pitch P, as illustrated in Figs. 4 toll. Gustoinarilm one side ed e portion at one end of either tooth flank, as indicated by the chamfered surface I8, is removedin the. hobbing operation. It will be evident that each chamfered surface [8 is inclined to the longitudinal center line of the associated gear tooth i1, and leaves a narrow land I9 at onelongitudinal end .of the tooth. The chamf r is. commonly provided to facilitate smooth and ready meshing engagement through relative axial movement of the gear 16 and a mating pinion .(not shown) Therefore, in order to prevent the clashing of gear teeth, it is desirable that the land 19 of each tooth I! be narrow and of substantially uniform Width. In fact, except for the Slight involute curvature of the unchamfered edge, the side edges of each land l9 preferably are approximately parallel. The chamfered sufface 18 extends the full height of the tooth l1 and inwardly of the base circle, and, as to shape, may have any desired configuration, but preferably is flat or substantially so in order to obtain smooth interenga oment between the gear l6 and pinion. Thus, the particular form and inclination of the chamfered surface l8 serves to effect both maximum efiiciency in use and attractivenessiin appearance. Itv will be understood that in the'hobbing operation, the gear l6 would be supportedfor rotary :drive on a supporting shaft or arbor '20.

The hob I5, in th epreferred form shown, comprises a generally cylindrical body 21 having a central hub 212' formed with an axial bore 23 for the reception of a rotary supporting shaftor arbor 24 adapted to be driven insuitably timed relation to the shaft-20;.

Formed onthe outer periphery of the body are multiple spiral rows or convolutions of cutting teeth indicated collectively as 25. The multiple rows of teeth are arranged to start at peripherally spaced points about and in a common transaxial plane of the hob body 21. In the presentinstancatworows'or-threads 26 and 21 of teeth are provided, and they start preferably at diametrically opposite, andyhenceequally spaced, points about the circumferenceor substantially so.

The parallel helical threads or tooth rows 26 and'ZT'are alike in spiral lead and tooth construction; Each thread'hasa constant load angle a. and a total "lead .I per convolution in a direction along the .ho'b axis. The pitch of the hob teeth is considerably shorter than that of' the ear teeth; and. is also shorter than that of the teeth in. prior .chamfering hobs. While not restricted. to any definite number .of teeth, each thread is shown comprising fourteen uniformly 3 spaced teeth, those of the thread 26 being identified progressively as l to M, and those of the thread 21 being correspondingly identified as la to Ma.

The multiple tooth rows or threads are provided to permit the chamfering of more than one gear tooth H in the course of each hob revolution, and are started at uniformly peripherally. spaced points so to render the rows successively effective over different portions of the revolution. Thus, the double thread hob of the present invention will completely chamfer two contiguous gear.

teeth 11 in each revolution, the first thread 26 cutting one gear tooth during the first half revolution, and the second thread 2'! cutting the next gear tooth during the second half revolution.

The teeth 25 of the two rows or threads 26 and 21 all have the same effective cutting contour. Thus, each tooth 25 has a straight radial face 28 which defines a cutting contour comprising a top edge 29 anda side edge 30, and has atop surface 3| and opposite side flanks 32 and 33, all of which are radially relieved from the face to the trailing gash 34. The top cutting edge 29 may be formed with any desired configufinal tooth I40. of the thread 21, and the leading ration, and preferably is straight except for slightly rounded corners at the ends. The cutting side edge 39 is substantially perpendicular to the hob axis so that the chamfering cut will produce a substantially flat surface I8 and thereby leave the land side edges.

In setting up the hob I5 for cutting operation, it is necessarily located to avoid interference and to sweep across the selected corners of the gear teeth IT at an angle determined by the desired angleof chamfer. As shown in Figs. 4 to 6, the axes of the hob l5 and gear [6 are located in parallel planes, and relatively inclined at approximately which is chamfer, and the hob is located to one side of the vertical center line, 35 of the gear at such a distance that the approaching side flank of each gear tooth II at the time the chamfering cut is completed will be medially disposed perpendicularly to the hobaxis (see Figs. 5 and 11) as indicated by the line 36. Obviously the distance d between the lines 35 and 36 will vary for different gear pressure angles. The hob I5 is set at a distance between axes sufficient when fed to normal depth to ohamfer the full height of the gear teeth, and, in the full sweep of the hob teeth, will actually form a notch 31 inside the base circle of the gear l6. Preferably, the hob l5 and gear [6 are so rotated that the hob teeth will emerge from the end surfaces of the gear teeth I! so as to avoid the formation of burrs on the flanks of the gear teeth.

In prior chamfering hobs of the multiple thread type, a comparatively few teeth of. each convolution and extending over only a small portion, considerably less than half, of the circumference, can be utilized for cutting purposes, the remaining teeth being out of cutting range and therefore ineffective. As a result, the few effective teeth are insufficient in number to completely chamfer a large gear in one gear revolution, and are subjected to a heavy cutting load. Also, the cutting action is interrupted in proceeding from each gear tooth to the next, thus resulting in a sharp and noisy impact at the start of each cut, and attendant chatter and vibration. These conditions impair the hob life, are deleterious to the machine structure, and produce a poor work finish.

the preferred angle of 19 with approximately parallel One of the primary objects of the present invention is to avoid the foregoing diificulties by forming and arranging the hob teeth of the two threads so that as the final tooth of either convolution is finishing its out, the leading effective tooth of the other convolution will be starting its out on the next gear tooth. To this end, the successive teeth of the two convolutions are arranged side by side in a circumferential series of pairs, but out of phase, so that the leading cutting tooth 1 of the thread 26 will be paired with the tooth 1a of the thread 21 will be paired with the final tooth. 14 of the thread 26, etc. In order to obtain the desired tooth height so that the initial cutting tooth I or la of the trailing convolution at any given time will project into the cutting zone, and that at the same time objectionable interference will be avoided, the cutting teeth of each convolution are reduced progressively in height from the leading to the final tooth. Consequently, the final tooth M or Md will be considerably shorter than the leading tooth Ia or 1, but due to the relative approaching curvature'of the gear I6, will nevertheless out the ultimate form to the desired depth, as clearly'illustrated in Fig. 11. Thus, the actual cutting teeth of each convolution can be increased in number, and extend in series substantially entirely over one-half of the circumference so as to distribute the cutting load most effectively. Under the foregoing arrangement, the leading teeth 1- to 6 and la to 60!, are ineffective, and are left on the hob and made uniform in height only in order to retain good balance and appearance, and for convenience in manufacturing.

To provide adequate side clearance c for each hob tooth 25, the teeth are bodily inclined about the medial radial center lines of their respective faces 28 out of the thread helix so that the side flanks 32 which sweep the areas being chamfered are disposed with little or no spiral lead and may be actually located in a transaxial plane of the hob. This reduction inside clearance of the flanks 32 still leaves adequate clearance for the opposite flanks 33 because of the angular disposition of the hob axis relative to that of the work, and the progressive rotation of the 'work. In operation, and assuming that the hob l5 and the gear blank l5 have been set in proper starting position, bothare rotated in timed relation in the directions indicated by the arrows in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The hob lead I is such in relation to the circular pitch-of the gear that the two thread convolutions will act successively on consecutive gear teeth. V 7

Initially, the hob relatively advanced axially of the work into full depth position. In the continued rotation of the hob l5 and the gear blank It, the leading efiective cutting tooth 1 of the tooth row or thread 26 will start cutting the gear tooth h, as shown in Fig. 8. Thereaftenthe teeth 8 to 14 will take successive cuts to complete the chamfered surface l8 on the tooth tuFigs. 9, l0 and 11 showing the teeth 9, I l and ll completing their respective cuts. During the cutting action of the hob teeth 9 to l3 on thegear tooth ii, the tooth row or thread 21 is ineffective, since the normally effective teeth thereof are out of cutting range, as illustrated by the positions of the teeth 2a and 4a in Figs. 9 and 10. 'I-Iowever, as the final tooth M of the thread 26 takes the last out on the tooth m, the leading cutting tooth 1a of the thread 21 moves into position to take the initial cut on the succeeding gear tooth tz, this 5 relationship having been brought about by the progressive rotation of the hob I5 and the gear blank I6, and being made possible by the relatively increased height of the leading tooth. Then the teeth 80. to Ma, complete the chamfer on the tooth t2, while the tooth thread 26 is ineffective until, during the final out by the tooth Him, the leading tooth 1 of the thread 26 starts to chamfer the gear tooth 283. It will be evident that the gear blank [6 is rotated through the distance of two gear teeth for each complete revolution of the hob l5, and that the two threads 26 and 21 are effective alternately and without interruption of the cutting action to chamfer two teeth per hob revolution. The foregoing operation is continued until all of the gear teeth have been chamfered during the course of one complete gear revolution, plus a slight additional rotation to finish the teeth which are partially cut during the initial infeed of the hob to full cutting depth.

I claim as my invention:

1. A gear chamfering hob adapted for forming on gear teeth chamfered surfaces inclined relative to the longitudinal axes of the teeth, said hob comprising a rotary body of generally annular configuration and having a plurality of rows of similarly shaped, radially relieved hob teeth helically positioned on the peripheral surface of said hob, all of said teeth having the same general cutting contour, said rows of teeth starting sub- Y stantially at uniformly peripherally spaced points about the body in a common transaxial plane, and each row comprising a series of effective cutting teeth extending over a portion of the circumference of the body, the sets of effective teeth of the rows being stepped peripherally to cut successively but collectively in a continuous sequence throughout each hob revolution, the leading cutting tooth of each row being paired with the final tooth of the other row, the effective cutting teeth of each row decreasing in radial height progressively from the leading tooth to the final tooth, said hob thus being adapted to form finished chamfered surfaces upon two successive teeth upon each revolution of the hob.

2. A gear chamfering hob adapted for chamfering the ends of gear teeth to form lands thereon of less width than the width of the respective teeth, said hob comprising a rotary body having two rows of radially relieved hob teeth helically positioned on the peripheral surface, said rows of teeth starting at diametrically opposite points in a common transaxial plane and each extending through a full convolution, one row comprising a series of ineffective leading teeth and a following series of effective cutting teeth extending through at least one-half portion of the circumference of the body, and the other row comprising a series of ineffective leading teeth and a following series of effective cutting teeth extending through at least the other half portion of the circumference, the teeth of the rows being ar- 4 ranged sideby side in a peripheral succession of pairs, the effective cutting teeth of each row decreasing in radial height progressively from the leading tooth to the final tooth, the leading cutting tooth of each row being paired with the final tooth of the other row, all effective teeth having the same cutting contour each with an end cutting edge and one side cutting edge disposed substantially perpendicular to the hob axis, said side cutting edges of the respective teeth being adapted to shape the final configuration of the chamfered surfaces on the gear teeth.

NORMAN C. REMICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,329,806 Schurr Feb. 3, 1920 1,648,470 Anderson Nov. 8, 1927 1,707,105 Wheatly Mar. 26, 1929 1,765,853 Simmons June 24, 1930 1,928,646 Edgar Oct. 3, 1933 2,049,492 Drader et al Aug. 4, 1936 2,164,643 Drader July 4, 1939 2,414,790 Barnard et a1 Jan. 28, 1947 2,491,720 Frei Dec. 20, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,413 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1911 

